Ethical Regulation: Law and Other Disciplines: Key Resources

Find articles, books, and more. Help guide

(Note: additional content available in other databases.)

SuperSearch provides access to many full-text online materials and all of the Drake libraries print holdings. For print materials, SuperSearch indicates whether Law or Cowles owns an item, its location and call number, and if it is checked out or on the shelf.

Search for journal articles from the main or advanced interface or by clicking the Journal Finder link. 

See the library's SuperSearch guide for instructions and tips, including how to find an article by citation.

There are many databases that might be useful, depending upon your topic. These are a few broadly applicable choices. Remember, too, that SuperSearch can be used to find Newspaper articles.

These other guides offer a combination of resources available to anyone, as well as some limited to all current Drake faculty, staff, and students and others limited to Drake Law faculty, staff, and students. The latter are identified by the LAW icon, so skip those.

Search terms will depend on your topic, but here are some broad ideas. These were developed through SuperSearch research, but might also work on Google or another search engine.

"Professional ethics" or "Codes of ethics" Either of these search terms can be combined with the name of the field (e.g., librarianship) or the job title (e.g., librarian).

"Ethical aspects" or "Moral and ethical aspects" Try one of these phrases along with the name of the discipline (e.g., "library science" AND "moral and ethical aspects")

----- ethics. You can also try searching for the descriptor of your selected field before the word ethics, such as business ethics, journalistic ethics, legal ethics, medical ethics, nursing ethics, or political ethics, for example. 

If you have trouble finding something this way, you could try the converse, using search terms like corruption, corrupt practices, misconduct, or fraud along with the name of the field.

Here are some strategies to find relevant case law:

1. Look for citations mentioned in a secondary authority, like a law review article
2. Search the profession's ethics opinions database. The License Finder link in the prior box might help you determine whether such a source exists.
3. Search case law directly. If you are not a law student, your best bet will be to use Westlaw Campus. Here is a sample advanced search in the context of midwifery. For law students, note that the search logic shown in the third screenshot would also work in Lexis.

Sample Westlaw Campus Steps

1. From the main screen, click the jurisdiction selection box and select your jurisdiction.

 Clicking the jurisdiction button, where it now says "All Federal," will bring up this pop-up box where you can select up to the jurisdiction(s) you want to search.

2. Then, click on Cases under All Content

3. Input your search terms. The search logic is explained below. 

Other terms that might be useful include standards, code, and ethical (or ethic!).

This search string entered in the image above will look for any word starting with midwife (e.g., midwife or midwifery) within 40 words of at least one of the following: ethics, competence, or a word that begins with liab (such as liable or liability).
The number after the slash can be anything you want it to be. Another useful proximity operator is /p which will find words that appear within the same paragraph. If you click on the Advanced link at the end of the search bar, you will see a list of Connectors and Expanders.

4. Review the results. Use the filters on the left if needed.